A closely-watched insurance battle is expected to wrap up at the High Court in Christchurch today.

More than 6400 people in the remote Santa Cruz Islands in Temotu Province, 500km east of Honiara in the Solomon Islands, are coming to terms with devastation and loss wrought by the double disaster of an earthquake and tsunami last month.

Damaged chimneys and homeless people are likely to lead to more abandoned red zone properties going up in flames this winter, firefighters fear.

The 1888 Gothic revival presbytery beside St Patrick's Catholic Cathedral in Auckland CBD is an earthquake-prone building.

Our building stock could look radically different in the next few years as owners and architects introduce new seismic elements, an expert says.

When Queen St's Imperial Laneway got its $15 million makeover a couple of years ago, owners poured $4 million into seismic strengthening.

Challenging a $337,000 payout to repair a Christchurch home by lodging a $900,000 claim means the case will be "impossible to resolve", a court heard today.

The Government is proposing building owners strengthen earthquake-prone buildings within the next 15 years so that by 2028, we will be much safer if another major quake strikes.

Some of New Zealand's historic buildings are about to be hit by a multibillion-dollar bombshell, as the Government forces their strengthening, experts claim.

Scientists predict an earthquake swarm rattling the east coast of the North Island could continue for days.

New Zealand cities must capitalise on Christchurch's earthquake experience if they are to make themselves more resilient to natural disasters, a top quake expert says.

Shops and bars will open in downtown Christchurch next month for the first time since the February 22 earthquake two years ago.

Work in post-disaster Christchurch has officially swung from recovery and demolition to rebuild, the Government said today.

A tsunami advisory for New Zealand has been cancelled, seven hours after an 8-magnitude earthquake struck near the Solomon Islands today.

Most of the debris has been cleared and repairs have begun, but residents of a tornado-ravaged Auckland street have long gone.

Anne Bolland wept yesterday as swirling brown floodwaters advanced on her home in the low-lying Brisbane suburb of Milton.

Thousands of homes are underwater in Queensland and New South Wales as ex-tropical cyclone Oswald beats a devastating path down the coast, leaving authorities to prepare for another day of evacuations while floodwaters have already isolated hundreds of homes.

Christchurch's Cindy Gibb made a deal with her husband - one day she'd be able to travel the world to places where nursing skills were in short supply and work.

Queensland is gripped in another extraordinary flood crisis, as cities and towns across the state go under.

As cooler weather eased firefighting in Victoria and the nation celebrated Australia Day yesterday, a new disaster was declared in Queensland.

While firefighters yesterday continued to battle huge blazes in Victoria, floods swept through Queensland, shutting down roads, railways and airports as former cyclone Oswald inundated coastal regions.

Firefighters were "planning for the worst" last night as a huge scrub fire burned across Great Barrier Island, forcing the evacuation of homes, businesses and a medical centre.

Hydrothermal activity at White Island has increased and experts say there is "significant concern" the volcano could erupt with little or no warning.